A new study has found that a pregnant woman's health is linked to a child's brain development. A recent large-scale analysis confirmed that children born to women who experienced gestational diabetes face a higher risk of autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The findings run counter to U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that pregnant women's use of the fever and pain reliever Tylenol (acetaminophen) can cause autism in children. The scientific community said the results bolster efforts to rebut Trump's claim.
The journal Nature said on the 22nd (local time), "Researchers at the National University of Singapore found that children born to women who experienced gestational diabetes had a 56% and 36% higher risk of autism and ADHD, respectively." The findings were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) meeting held in Vienna, Austria, 15–19th.
Autism and ADHD are representative developmental disorders that affect sociality, communication, and behavioral development. Autism is estimated to affect 1–3% of the global population, and ADHD affects 3–10% of children and adolescents.
The study synthesized 48 papers conducted across 20 countries and analyzed more than 9 million pregnancies. While this is not the first study to suggest a link between gestational diabetes and neurodevelopmental disorders in children, it is the largest by scale.
The analysis found that children born to mothers who experienced gestational diabetes not only had higher risks of ADHD and autism but also had lower IQ scores. The researchers noted that gestational diabetes carries long-term risks for maternal health as well. Research over the past 20 years shows that women who experienced gestational diabetes later face higher risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and chronic kidney disease.
The results also align with findings published in June by Chinese researchers in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. Analyzing more than 202 papers covering over 56 million mother–child pairs, the team confirmed that not only gestational diabetes but all diabetes during pregnancy, including type 1 and type 2, raises the risk of ADHD and autism in children.
However, experts say it is difficult to conclude that gestational diabetes is a direct cause of ADHD and autism. Alex Polyakov, an obstetrics and gynecology professor at the University of Melbourne in Australia, said, "There is clearly a signal, but further research is needed to establish causality."
In fact, a study that tracked 3.6 million mother–child pairs last year found that siblings had similarly increased ADHD risks regardless of whether the mother had diabetes. Polyakov said, "Future research should compare the children of women with mild and severe gestational diabetes to determine whether gestational diabetes actually affects risk."
Debate over the causes of autism recently flared after remarks by Trump, the U.S. president. At a White House press conference that day, Trump warned, "Pregnant women should refrain from using acetaminophen." Medical guidelines to date classify acetaminophen as a medication that can be used safely during pregnancy. Tylenol with this ingredient is the most widely used painkiller worldwide.
References
Nature (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-03024-5
Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/ S2213-8587(25)00053-1